Chapter 493 - 494: Settling Differences.

Chapter 493: Chapter 494: Settling Differences.

"...Does his Majesty know about this?" Drogger inquires wryly, sliding a suspicious look his way. Convenient, since it means he misses the way Montrel takes the princess’ hand in greeting. Bongo pretends he doesn’t see that either. A good chaperone would have never allowed such a thing.

"I’ll handle Gurdet," he assures Drogger easily, waving down a roving barmaid and gesturing for a couple of drinks as he relaxes into his seat. It’s a scene he almost wishes that his king could see; his daughter laughing so openly and so full of delight as Rogard and Binny both throw their heads and down their full goblets of wine. It makes Bongo feel a little queasy just looking at them, and while Drogger offers a small, affectionate nod when Rogard looks their way, he can tell that he’s in no rush to join whatever daft game they’re playing.

"Feel old?" Bongo inquires with a chuckle, and Drogger looks grim as he raises his mug to his lips.

"Very."

...

Khobi’s having a good night. One of the best nights he’s ever had, even, and they’re just getting started. He’s not sure what the princess is doing here but he figures it has something to do with Bongo hovering over with Drogger. He should probably buy him a drink, come to think of it. Drogger, that is. It’s his party as much as Rogard’s, after all. Maybe while he’s at it he should buy one for Bongo, too. Khobi doesn’t know how to express his gratitude to the man, but he figures that a drink is a good place to start. Despite towering above most of the crowd, it still takes him a while to weave his way up to the bar, but it makes it easy to catch the eye of a barmaid for another drink. But it’s just as he’s reaching into his pocket to fish for some more gold when a hand comes down on the bar beside him, and when he looks up in surprise, he finds none other than Vogrid standing there; brimming wine goblet in hand.

It...dampens his good mood just a little.

"For whatever he’s having," Vogrid explains to the barmaid, pushing a couple of gold across the bar with a curt nod in Khobi’s direction.

"I can buy my own drinks," Khobi cuts in irritably, feeling the familiar spike of irritation he’s long since attributed to Vogrid’s presence.

"I’m aware," Vogrid replies, equally unimpressed, but nudges the gold a little more insistently across the bar to urge the barmaid to hurry up and take it.

What is this guy’s problem?

Taking a deep breath, Khobi sighs and shakes his head to try and push away some of the reflexive irritation. Binny’s his friend, and he obviously sees something in this guy; the least he can do is make an effort. And it’s not like he has any place in judging, considering the guy he likes.

"Good game," he tries again, nodding over to where Gandy and Binny are looking for fresh competition, and Rogard is quite unsuccessfully trying to coax Drogger into playing with him. He even genuinely means it. Who would have thought accuracy with a bow would translate to slinging a coin into a cup? "You and Binny uh...make a good team, I guess?" Really, it’s half that and half that Rogard and Loac make a terrible one. " –Can’t say I saw that one coming."

Vogrid gives him a scowl as if to say what’s that supposed to mean , but when the barmaid drops a fresh mug of ale on the bar, he still pushes it across to Khobi with a single finger.

"I don’t like feeling indebted to you," Vogrid states, when Khobi eyes the mug with skepticism and a touch of distaste.

"Indebted?" he frowns, confused because last time he checked he and Vogrid kind of went out of their way to inconvenience each other. But instead of elaborating, Vogrid just glances across the tavern to where Binny and Gandy have started heckling a bard who had seen fit to heckle them first.

Then, to Khobi’s surprise, his eyes soften.

"Ah." Khobi knows that look. "...Binny, huh?" For a second there it almost looks as if Vogrid’s about to deny it, but after a moment of consideration he clears his throat.

"You’ve done a lot for him, Khobi," he states, tone and expression cool but words surprisingly warm, "...More than you know."

"...He’s been a good friend to me," Khobi admits with a small shrug, unable to hold back a grin as he watches the ongoing exchange of wits, and Vogrid snorts like he understands.

"...The same could be said for me."

That makes Khobi laugh, despite himself. "Well," he snorts wryly, "Who’d have thought we’d have something in common?"

Certainly not him.

And while there’s no doubt that Vogrid shares the sentiment, tonight must be a night of miracles, because Vogrid smiles. It’s gotta be the first time Khobi’s ever seen him do that. It’s definitely weird ; unusual and a little off-putting, like seeing a bird with no feathers, but it makes Khobi feel a little less on edge.

"Indeed."

"...Tell you what," Khobi decides, taking the mug of ale off the bar but dropping a couple of pieces of gold into Vogrid’s unfinished drink. Just so he knows that he’s not letting him pay for it. "I haven’t forgotten what happened the last time we fought, so how about you give me a shot at revenge one day? Then you can count us as even." This interaction does not seem to have gone quite the way Vogrid had anticipated it to, and for a second he just stands there staring at him; green eyes politely baffled by the offer. The challenge, rather. But then after a beat he snorts, and it might be going out on a limb, but Khobi gets the impression that for whatever reason he finds a kind of nostalgia in his words.

"Very well," Vogrid replies, and while the look he gives him is just as haughty as it always is and he doesn’t look thrilled about having coins dumped in his drink, there’s a little less ice there than Khobi’s grown accustomed to seeing. "...But I can assure you; the result will be the same." He doesn’t offer out his goblet in toast, nor does Khobi make any move to do so with his mug, but all the same it feels like a moment of understanding passes between them; a moment of two proud men sizing each other up and acknowledging in solidarity, the strength of the other.

"You couldn’t be more wrong," Khobi informs him; tone matter-of-fact, but vehement steel glinting fierce and red in his eyes.

"Funny," Vogrid snorts, for a moment there sounding almost genuinely amused, "...Loac and I never agreed on anything either."

Khobi’s not entirely sure what that’s supposed to mean, but the face that Vogrid makes when the gold Khobi dumped in his drink hit him in the face as he finishes off his wine is priceless. That sort of thing must happen more often than you’d think because the barmaids don’t even bat an eye when Vogrid’s next drink is paid for in very wet, sticky pieces of gold. Khobi doesn’t tell him about the streaks of wine that the coins have left on his chin, but he certainly hears about it not a couple of minutes later when Binny bursts out laughing.